Adult film star Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday in former President Donald Trump's first criminal trial investigating the billionaire's alleged hush payment to the actor in 2016.
Trump was indicted last year in March on 34 felony counts, accused of falsifying business records to silence Stormy Daniels for a $130,000 payment.
The Republican pleaded not guilty to all charges.
What do we know about Stormy Daniels?
Stormy Daniels' real name is Stephanie Clifford and she is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The 45-year-old was a popular name in the adult entertainment industry.
Daniels said she and Donald Trump had consensual sex in 2006 after the former president married Melania Trump.
The presumptive Republican candidate paid him money to keep his silence for not disclosing their meeting in 2016, when he was running for the Oval Office.
However, the actor-turned-president brushed aside the allegations, saying Daniels was paid so he could stop “false and extortionist accusations.”
In 2023, the star said he doesn't think Trump should go to prison if convicted.
What happened between Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels?
According to the latest testimony, Daniels met Trump in July 2006 at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe.
Trump invited her to dinner and they dined in his hotel suite, where the criminally accused former president showed her a copy of a golf magazine with his photo on the cover.
Daniels said Trump asked her about her and if she would like to appear on his television show “Celebrity Apprentice.”
“He told me, 'Wow, you, you're special. You remind me of my daughter.' You know, he told me, 'You're smart and beautiful and a woman to be reckoned with, and I like you,'” Daniels said. Reuters.
According to her, Trump contacted Daniels the following year at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles to discuss her possible appearance on “Celebrity Apprentice.” A month later, Trump told her he couldn't get her on the show.
Hush payment and confidentiality agreement
On October 28, 2016, days before the presidential election that Trump won, Daniels signed a confidentiality agreement in which she agreed not to speak publicly about their relationship in exchange for $130,000.
The pact was signed by Keith Davidson, his lawyer at the time, and Michael Cohen, Trump's lawyer at the time. The document included a place for Trump's signature that he never signed.
